was declined on the plea that to construct a cabinet on “a system of counteraction was inconsistent with the prosecution
of any uniform and beneficial course of policy.” From that
date it has been an established principle that all cabinets are to
be formed on some basis of political union agreed upon by the
members when they accept office together. It is now also distinctly
understood that the members of a cabinet are jointly and
severally responsible for each other’s acts, and that any attempt
to distinguish between a particular minister and his colleagues in
such matters is unconstitutional.
During the 19th century the power of ministers was greatly extended, and their duties became more distinctly marked out. As now interpreted, the leading principles of the British constitution are the personal irresponsibility of the sovereign, the responsibility of ministers, and the inquisitorial and controlling power of parliament. At the head of affairs is the prime minister (q.v.), whose duties are more general than departmental; and the other members of the administration, whose work is exemplified by the titles of their offices (the more important of which are treated separately), are the lord high chancellor, the lord president of the council, the lord privy seal, the first lord of the treasury, the five secretaries of state (home, foreign affairs, colonies, war, India), the chancellor of the exchequer, the secretary for Scotland, the chief secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, the postmaster-general, the presidents of the board of trade, the local government board, the board of agriculture and the board of education (all of which were originally committees of the privy council), the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and the first lord of the admiralty. These are the more important members of the administration, and they are generally in the cabinet. The subordinate members of the administration, some of whom are occasionally invited to join the cabinet, while others are never in it, are the parliamentary and financial secretary to the admiralty, the parliamentary under-secretaries of the home, foreign, war, colonial and India offices, the board of trade, local government and board of education, the junior lords of the treasury (assistant “whips”), the financial secretary and patronage secretary to the treasury (the senior “whip”), the first commissioner of works, the paymaster-general, and the attorney-general and solicitor-general. There are in addition the lord advocate and the solicitor-general for Scotland, the lord-lieutenant and lord chancellor of Ireland (who are sometimes members of the cabinet), and the attorney-general and solicitor-general for Ireland.
|
[The title was at first lord treasurer, except when the treasury was put in commission. Ultimately special rank was given to one of the commissioners as first lord of the treasury. From the time of the earl of Essex (1679) the name given is that of the first lords, with the exception of the three printed in italics. In modern times the first lord of the treasury has usually, but not invariably, been the head of the government or prime minister. A list of the Prime Ministers is given in the article Prime Minister. | |
| 1603. | Lord Buckhurst, cr. Earl of Dorset 1604. |
| 1608. | Earl of Salisbury. |
| 1612. | Earl of Northampton and others. (Commissioners.) |
| 1614. | Earl of Suffolk. |
| 1618. | Archbishop Abbot and others. (Commissioners.) |
| 1620. | Sir H. Montagu, cr. Viscount Mandeville 1620. |
| 1621. | Lord Cranfield, cr. Earl of Middlesex 1622. |
| 1624. | Sir J. Ley, cr. Lord Ley 1625. and Earl of Marlborough 1626. |
| 1628. | Lord Weston, cr. Earl of Portland 1633. |
| 1635. | Archbishop Laud and others. (Commissioners.) |
| 1636. | W. Juxon, Bishop of London. |
| 1641. | Sir E. Littleton and others. (Commissioners.) |
| 1643. | Lord Cottington. |
| 1649. | Interregnum. |
| 1660. | Sir E. Hyde and others. (Commissioners.) |
| 1660. | Earl of Southampton. |
| 1667. | Duke of Albemarle and others. (Commissioners.) |
| 1672. | Lord Clifford. |
| 1673. | Viscount Dunblane, cr. Earl of Danby 1674. |
| 1679. | Earl of Essex. |
| 1679. | Lord Hyde, cr. Earl of Rochester 1682. |
| 1684. | Lord Godolphin. |
| 1687. | Lord Bellasyse. |
| 1689. | Earl of Monmouth. |
| 1690. | Viscount Lonsdale. |
| 1690. | Lord Godolphin. |
| 1697. | C. Montagu, cr. Earl of Halifax 1700. |
| 1699. | Earl of Tankerville. |
| 1700. | Lord Godolphin. |
| 1701. | Earl of Carlisle. |
| 1702. | Lord Godolphin. |
| 1710. | Earl Poulett. |
| 1711. | Earl of Oxford. |
| 1714. | Duke of Shrewsbury. |
| 1714. | Earl of Halifax. |
| 1715. | Earl of Carlisle. |
| 1715. | Sir R. Walpole. |
| 1717. | Lord Stanhope. |
| 1718. | Earl of Sunderland. |
| 1721. | Sir R. Walpole. |
| 1742. | Earl of Wilmington. |
| 1743. | H. Pelham. |
| 1754. | Duke of Newcastle. |
| 1756. | Duke of Devonshire. |
| 1757. | Duke of Newcastle. |
| 1762. | Earl of Bute. |
| 1763. | G. Grenville. |
| 1765. | Marquess of Rockingham. |
| 1766. | Duke of Grafton. |
| 1770. | Lord North. |
| 1782. | Marquess of Rockingham. |
| 1782. | Earl of Shelburne. |
| 1783. | Duke of Portland. |
| 1783. | W. Pitt. |
| 1801. | H. Addington. |
| 1804. | W. Pitt. |
| 1806. | Lord Grenville. |
| 1807. | Duke of Portland. |
| 1807. | S. Perceval. |
| 1812. | Earl of Liverpool. |
| 1827. | G. Canning. |
| 1827. | Viscount Goderich. |
| 1828. | Duke of Wellington. |
| 1830. | Earl Grey. |
| 1834. | Viscount Melbourne. |
| 1834. | Sir R. Peel. |
| 1835. | Viscount Melbourne. |
| 1841. | Sir R. Peel. |
| 1846. | Lord J. Russell, cr. Earl Russell 1861. |
| 1852. | Earl of Derby. |
| 1852. | Earl of Aberdeen. |
| 1855. | Viscount Palmerston. |
| 1858. | Earl of Derby. |
| 1859. | Viscount Palmerston. |
| 1865. | Earl Russell. |
| 1866. | Earl of Derby. |
| 1868. | B. Disraeli. |
| 1868. | W. E. Gladstone. |
| 1874. | B. Disraeli, cr. Earl of Beaconsfield 1876. |
| 1880. | W. E. Gladstone. |
| 1885. | Sir Stafford Northcote, cr. Earl of Iddesleigh 1885 (prime minister, Marquess of Salisbury). |
| 1886. | W. E. Gladstone. |
| 1886. | Marquess of Salisbury. |
| 1887. | W. H. Smith (prime minister, Lord Salisbury). |
| 1891. | A. J. Balfour (prime minister, Lord Salisbury). |
| 1892. | W. E. Gladstone. |
| 1894. | Earl of Rosebery. |
| 1895. | A. J. Balfour (prime minister, Lord Salisbury till 1902). |
| 1905. | Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman. |
| 1908. | H. H. Asquith. |
1603. Sir T. Egerton, L.K., cr. Lord Ellesmere 1603, and Viscount Brackley 1616. |
